I thought he looked very good despite not having tons of practice at the position. I think with a full off season, Mike Nolan at the helm, and a guy like Karlos Dansby behind him, he could be our Jay Ratliff.

While it did show that Starks can become a "IRONMAN".....it also showed why 90% of our draft picks were on d-fence. If he is to play (nt) and play it well he needs more help from the (lb)'s and the secondary. On some plays he was getting 2 & 3 teamed out there,and the back was still getting rushing yards. But all in all he showed he can step up and play that gap.

I am worried about this move. Not that I don't think that Starks can play this position but I think we are going to lose a lot of Starks pass rush ability since he wont be at end. I hope when Ferguson comes back after his suspension that they move Starks back to end.

But man our linebackers were terrible. Always out of position, always getting caught up inside on runs to the outside. No wonder we drafted like 50 linebackers....

I was thinking the same thing. Akin Ayodele was horrible and Channing was way too aggressive, even more so than I remember.

I thought Starks was a little over aggressive on a couple of plays, but actually looked really good creating a lot of penetration. As long as he's not in a 0-technique too often, I think he'll be fine.

I am worried about this move. Not that I don't think that Starks can play this position but I think we are going to lose a lot of Starks pass rush ability since he wont be at end. I hope when Ferguson comes back after his suspension that they move Starks back to end.

I think this is the plan if Ferguson comes back healthy and plays hard. He's still our best NT by far, imo. I didn't find Soliai as crap as anyone else could he step up and take over next season maybe sharing plays with someone else(I imagine we'll bring someone else in barring Starks not being the second coming of Jesus NoseTackle)?

I think this is a position that Starks will grow into during training camp and preseason. I think he'll be ready when it counts. The only thing I'm worried about is that our linebackers might not be in sync by the time the season starts. We've got a a lot of new faces there so it might take some time for defensive chemistry to develop. In fact our defense as a whole will look very different this year, so that entire unit will take some time to gel together. Hopefully they can work together and really thrive in Mike Nolan's new system!

Meh. I specifically remember this game, especially when we learned after the draft that Starks would play NT. Too many single blocks on the guy. That's not what you want to see out of your NT. That leaves extra blockers to take out the LB's.

Too many single blocks on the guy. That's not what you want to see out of your NT. That leaves extra blockers to take out the LB's.

People keep forgetting that Nolan is the new defensive coordinator. There was also mention of changing the defensive philosophy. Just because your base defense says "3-4" does not mean that what you said will always apply to the NT. If they ask for Starks to be more of a penetrator and disruptor than a gap filler, then this whole "single block" stuff doesn't fit. If they want to block him with one guy and he's able to get into the backfield and blow things up, it's their problem, not Miami's.

I definitely think this will be a very creative Jim Johnson/Steve Spagnuolo-type defense with a 5 man front that is called a 3-4 defense.

Yeah Nolan has been known to throw all types of looks at you on D......a 3-4 look can change to hybrid 4-3, 46- (Bears 85), to a 2-4-5 look all in one game. So I'm not worried about Starks, I just hope the other players know there assinments in all these different looks.

He played okay. It seems to me, however, that he was gashed more often than he blew the play up. To me, overall, I saw a net negative. But that was also Starks having taken no meaningful reps in preparation to play NT. He'll have that this offseason, and I do think that even if he doesn't excel, he'll be serviceable. We'll be okay.

Sean Smith needs to learn to tackle.

_________________A good RB is nice, a good QB even better, but it's best to be able to stop someone first.

Meh. I specifically remember this game, especially when we learned after the draft that Starks would play NT. Too many single blocks on the guy. That's not what you want to see out of your NT. That leaves extra blockers to take out the LB's.

Meh. I specifically remember this game, especially when we learned after the draft that Starks would play NT. Too many single blocks on the guy. That's not what you want to see out of your NT. That leaves extra blockers to take out the LB's.

I'm still praying Soliai finally puts it all together.

I didn't see too many single blocks on him in that video.

What you did see was him beating the double team a couple times for penetration. I think his pass rushing will be great. I hope his gap anticipation increases a bit in the run game though. Luckily our LB's in the middle should be significantly improved.

Meh. I specifically remember this game, especially when we learned after the draft that Starks would play NT. Too many single blocks on the guy. That's not what you want to see out of your NT. That leaves extra blockers to take out the LB's.

I'm still praying Soliai finally puts it all together.

I didn't see too many single blocks on him in that video.

What you did see was him beating the double team a couple times for penetration. I think his pass rushing will be great. I hope his gap anticipation increases a bit in the run game though. Luckily our LB's in the middle should be significantly improved.

I saw him beat a couple double teams on passing downs, but the run game effect was a wee bit different.

He's got more preparation time as opposed to that Baltimore game, but I still am not impressed from what I saw on run downs in that video.

I worry about Mike Nolans new defensive philosophy. I'm not sold on the "3-4" defense that lacks a viable 330lb NT. I foresee guards blocking LBs 3 yds off the line of scrimmage. Why would we want to engage the OL 3 yards down field? Are our LBs really that good at shedding blocks? My, admittedly limited, understanding of the new system makes it seem very exposed to the power rushing game inside.

While Starks wasn't dominant, he was serviceable on most plays. On some plays he got good penetration. It was a mixed bag.

But man our linebackers were terrible. Always out of position, always getting caught up inside on runs to the outside. No wonder we drafted like 50 linebackers....

Late to the show on this video but I agree with Rich on this after watching it. One play in particular he has two OL guys busy but the LB's were nowhere to be found. I'd also add that most of the video was against the Ravens where the entire defense got manhandled.